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Are you bear shaving in your business? You might be if you’re forgetting to budget for certain areas

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Created on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 15:58

Written by Loris

One of the biggest slips that I think a business can make when it comes to maintaining their IT infrastructure is not budgeting realistically for IT. Most businesses have little to no budget set aside for any IT expenses, yet we all know that using technology is so incredibly integral to what we do! What would happen if you suddenly lost access to your system? If your computer crashes, and the hard drive is irrecoverable, will you replace it out of your planned computer hardware expense budget? Or will that expense come out of the general kitty with a note that it was for a replacement computer? Similarly, all software applications are aging. Are you planning for the costs of software upgrades? When you stay current on your software, you’ll stay up-to-date on the latest functionality as things in the world change.

Planning ahead with an adequate budget can help prevent having to create emergency workarounds because you didn’t have the funds to take the necessary next steps. Workarounds are a lot like bear shaving (as in, since global warming is making polar bears too hot, just shave their coats to keep them cool! ) because you’re treating the symptom while not solving the issue. Planning ahead for expected IT expenses to keep your technology (both hardware and software) up-to-date may cost less in the long run (and you won’t have to cope with any chilly bears running around…).

Another way to consider protecting your network - Proxy Pass Box

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Created on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 15:57

Written by Parker

We have had several clients ask us for different solutions to help protect their network while still allowing users to access their system from non-network computers. To meet this need, we’ve created the Proxy Pass Box. A Proxy Pass Box is a small box, that looks a lot like a little router, that we’ve installed a piece of software called Proxy Pass. This software acts as a proxy, pass and redirecting traffic in a very convenient way so that your server will accept the credentials of the user even if your network doesn’t recognize that user’s network or IP address. Essentially, the Proxy Pass Box allows indirect network connections to other network areas but because it acts as a fire-wall giving your network one more layer of protection!

Short cut keys in SouthWare

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Created on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 15:56

Written by Neil

You may already know about these shortcut keys in SouthWare, but if you didn’t, they could save you quite a bit of time:

• F8 – Go back (don’t get this confused with ESC, which in SouthWare does something different, see below)
• ESC – Tab
• R – Rename
• D – Delete
• T – Text (to add to a record)

Longing for Landed Cost Data?

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Created on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 15:55

Written by Loris

The Landed Cost is the total cost for some item once it finally arrives at the buyer’s door—all materials, production costs, warehousing costs, shipping costs, insurance/taxes and fees, and etc. If you’re like most distribution businesses, you may not be tracking landed cost. The Landed Cost module is another feature that I really like about SouthWare; it’s part of the inventory management suite. SouthWare’s Landed Cost functionality will help you breakdown cost information. It will give you the ability to identify each stock item’s unburdened cost (for instance its raw material cost) as well as its burdened cost (which includes that item’s overhead cost).

Could you improve how you use the landed cost functionality? You need to first understand the logistical costs of each item and then you need to constantly update the system’s estimates for shipments. Transportation costs are a huge percentage of a stock item’s landed cost and may include ocean freight costs, customs clearance fees, customs X-ray inspection, warehouse storage, unloading/reloading, domestic transportation, coordination fees, unloading at destination, and more! These fees add up and can impact your true net profit on individual orders!

When you do not take landed cost into consideration, you cannot get an actual gross margin for each line of inventory, which directly affects your ability to determine net profit. SouthWare allows businesses to track actual costs and then allocate to the inventory items based on several different key methods. Taking advantage of these insights will help you to make the best purchasing decisions.

How does Loris solve problems?

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Created on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 15:53

Written by Vali

I recently asked my colleague, Loris Wood, how she solves difficult problems. Her reply speaks to our mission at Opus and I’d like to share that with you. Loris says, “Sometimes when I work with a customer, I am asked to help solve a difficult problem. Customers rely on our experience with SouthWare as well as our business and operational experience because we often have a larger perspective. Our unique access to a variety of businesses in many different industries has taught us what works and what doesn’t. We can share these insights to create processes that meet critical business needs.

“When I work with customers, I make listening a priority. I want to understand that customer and really grasp their business needs. I want to hear about their operating goals and pain points because it’s important to me to introduce the best possible option to enable them to efficiently achieve their goals. A consultant should always take this approach: complicated solutions make complicated issues worse. Getting to the root of the issue first and then demonstrating a simple solution that breaks the issue down into manageable pieces is the only way to really make progress. That’s why we do what we do. We’re here to make our customers more effective. That’s actually what I love most about Opus; we’re committed to our customers.”